BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Neighbors of a man who perished in a pre-dawn house fire in southwest Birmingham said several people tried to save him, but they were forced to back away when the roof collapsed.

"One of my friends was trying to drag him out but the roof came down and my friend got hit on the head,'' said Ken Williams. "He (the victim) was yelling for help. There was nothing I could do."

Williams and others who witnessed the deadly fire said it was a horror they never again want to endure. "I was shocked,'' said 20-year-old Tray Jones, who was staying at the house next door. "The fire just kept spreading."

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office has not released the identity of the 63-year-old victim, pending formal confirmation. Neighbors identified him as William Nunn. His 45-year-old son is in critical condition at UAB, firefighters said. Both men, neighbors said, could walk with the help of walkers but usually used wheelchairs.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue was dispatched to the home in the 600 block of Fulton Avenue at 2:40 a.m. When they arrived on the scene, there was heavy smoke coming from the home.

Williams said he was asleep on the couch when Nunn's wife, 65-year-old Hazel Nunn, started banging on the window of his home. "It scared me,'' Williams said. "At first I didn't know what was going on, but when she pointed at the house, I saw black smoke."

Williams said firefighters pulled the son from the burning home. After extinguishing the fire, they recovered Nunn's body. He was pronounced dead at 2:46 a.m.

Birmingham Battalion Chief C.W. Mardis said the house suffered 100 percent fire and smoke damage. The blaze is believed to be accidental.

Authorities said Hazel Nunn said she saw sparks coming from a multi-outlet power strip she had bought the day before. She tried to put out the fire with water, but was unsuccessful. The fire, she said, quickly spread throughout the home. Fire officials said a space heater was plugged into the outlet, and that is believed to be the origin of the fire.

Neighbors said they felt helpless, and the ordeal is something they won't soon forget. "There was nothing nobody could do,'' Williams said. "I hate it."